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''Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'' is a 1936 two-reel
animated cartoon Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
short subject A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
in the '' Popeye Color Feature'' series, produced in
Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
and released to theatres on November 27, 1936 by
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production and distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldest film studio in the world, the second-olde ...
. It was produced by
Max Fleischer Max Fleischer (born Majer Fleischer ; July 19, 1883 – September 25, 1972) was an American animator, inventor, film director and producer, and studio founder and owner. Born in Kraków, Fleischer immigrated to the United States where he became ...
for
Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () is an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures, the parent company and the distributor of i ...
, Inc. and directed by
Dave Fleischer Dave Fleischer (; July 14, 1894 – June 25, 1979) was an American film director and producer, best known as a co-owner of Fleischer Studios with his older brother Max Fleischer. He was a native of New York City. Biography Fleischer was the ...
, with the title song by
Sammy Timberg Samuel Timberg (May 21, 1903 – August 26, 1992) was an American musician and composer for the stage, film studios, and television. Biography Timberg was born in New York City to a Jewish family originating in Austria, youngest son of Israel and ...
. The voice cast includes
Jack Mercer Winfield B. Mercer (January 31, 1910 – December 7, 1984), professionally known as Jack Mercer, was a prolific American voice actor, animator and TV screenwriter. He is best known as the voice of cartoon characters Popeye the Sailor Man and ...
as Popeye and J. Wellington Wimpy,
Mae Questel Mae Questel (born Mae Kwestel, September 13, 1908 – January 4, 1998) was an American actress. She was best known for providing the voices for the animated characters Betty Boop (from 1931) and Olive Oyl (from 1933). She began in vaudeville, ...
as
Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...
and
Gus Wickie August Wicke (May 7, 1885 – January 3, 1947), also known as Gus Wicke and Gus Wickie, was an American bass singer, and stage and voice actor. He was one of the voices of Bluto in the animated series, ''Popeye the Sailor'', by Fleischer Stud ...
as
Sindbad the Sailor Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghdad ...
. In 2004, the film was selected for preservation in the United States
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
by the
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the '' de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


Plot

In this short, Sindbad the Sailor (who is intended to be an alternate version of Popeye's old nemesis
Bluto Bluto, at times known as Brutus, is a cartoon and comics character created in 1932 by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar as a one-time character, named "Bluto the Terrible", in his ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (later renamed ''Popeye''). Blut ...
) lives on an island where he keeps loads of creatures that he had captured during his adventures (lions, tigers, giants, dragons, vultures, snakes, and apes). Where he proclaims himself, in song, to be the greatest
sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...
, adventurer, and lover in the world and "the most remarkable, extraordinary fellow," a claim that is inadvertently challenged by Popeye as he innocently sings his usual song while sailing by within earshot of Sindbad's island with his girlfriend
Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...
and his friend J. Wellington Wimpy on board. Sindbad orders his huge roc to kidnap Popeye's girlfriend, Olive Oyl, and wreck Popeye's ship, forcing him and Wimpy to swim to shore. Sindbad relishes making Olive his trophy wife, which is interrupted by Popeye's arrival. Sindbad then challenges the one-eyed sailor to a series of obstacles to prove his greatness, including fighting the roc, a two-headed
giant In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: ''gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 f ...
named Boola (an apparent parody reference to
The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appear ...
), and Sindbad himself. Popeye makes short work of the bird and the giant, but Sindbad almost gets the best of him until Popeye produces his can of
spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to central and western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common edible vegetable consumed either fr ...
, which gives him the power to soundly defeat Sindbad and proclaim himself "the most remarkable, extraordinary fella." A subtly dark running gag features the hamburger-loving Wimpy chasing after a
duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...
on the island with a
meat grinder A meat grinder (also called a "meat mincer" in the UK) is a kitchen appliance for fine chopping ('mincing') and/or mixing of raw or cooked meat, fish, vegetables or similar food. It replaces tools like the mincing knife (which are also ...
, with the intention of grinding it up so that he can fry it into his favorite dish, but the duck not only escapes, but also snatches away Wimpy's last burger in retaliation when he gives up. Many of the scenes in this short feature make use of the Fleischer's "Steroptical Process", or "Setback Tabletop" process, which used modeled sets to create 3D backgrounds for the cartoon.


Release and reception

This short was the first of the three ''Popeye'' Color Specials, which, at over sixteen minutes each, were billed as "A Popeye Feature." It was also the first Popeye color cartoon in general. ''Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'' was nominated for the 1936
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
for Best Short Subject: Cartoons, but lost to
Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film pr ...
's ''
Silly Symphony ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...
'' ''
The Country Cousin ''The Country Cousin'' is a Walt Disney animated short film released on October 31, 1936 by United Artists. The winner of an Oscar at the 9th Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film, the film was produced by Walt Disney, directed by Wilfre ...
''. Footage from this short was later used in the 1952
Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contro ...
''Popeye'' cartoon ''Big Bad Sindbad'', in which Popeye relates the story of his encounter with Sindbad to his 3 nephews. The ''Popeye Color Specials'', also including '' Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves'', and '' Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp'' (both of which were also adapted from a story featured in ''
One Thousand and One Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' ( ar, أَلْفُ لَيْلَةٍ وَلَيْلَةٌ, italic=yes, ) is a collection of Middle Eastern folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as the ''Arabian ...
'') are in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
, and are widely available on
home video Home video is prerecorded media sold or rented for home viewing. The term originates from the VHS and Betamax era, when the predominant medium was videotapes, but has carried over to optical disc formats such as DVD, Blu-ray and streaming m ...
and
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...
, often transferred from poor quality, old, faded prints. A fully restored version with the original
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
mountain logo opening and closing titles is available on the '' Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Volume 1'' DVD set from Warner Bros. Producer and special effects artist
Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who created a form of stop motion model animation known as "Dynamation". His works include the animation for '' Mig ...
stated in his ''Fantasy Film Scrapbook'' that ''Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'' was a major influence on his production of ''
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad ''The 7th Voyage of Sinbad'' is a 1958 Technicolor heroic fantasy adventure film directed by Nathan H. Juran and starring Kerwin Mathews, Torin Thatcher, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, and Alec Mango. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures and ...
''. In 1994, the film was voted #17 of the
50 Greatest Cartoons ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals'' is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck. Criteria It consists of articles about 50 highly regarded animated short films made in North America and other notable car ...
of all time by members of the animation field, making it the highest ranked Fleischer Studios cartoon in the book. In 2004, ''Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor'' has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the '' de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...
and selected for preservation in the
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...
.


References


External links

* * *
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad The Sailor
' at the
TCM Movie Database Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of At ...
* *
Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor at the Big Cartoon Database
{{Authority control 1936 films 1936 animated films 1936 short films 1930s American animated films 1930s color films American parody films Fairy tale parody films 1930s fantasy films Films based on Sinbad the Sailor Popeye the Sailor theatrical cartoons 1930s children's fantasy films United States National Film Registry films Films set on islands Films about giants Short films directed by Dave Fleischer Seafaring films Animated films about dragons Articles containing video clips Paramount Pictures short films Fleischer Studios short films Roc (mythology) 1930s English-language films American comedy short films American children's fantasy films